So, I drop Carolyn off at her computer class, pick up a few things at Lowe’s and Target, and head home. . .but as I’m turning into the driveway, I see this big bump. Then it moves. I get out of the van, and it’s a good-sized box turtle! Well! I picked him up and carried him into the back, and plopped him into the stream (not knowing how good a thing it would be to put him in the pond itself.)

I didn’t get a picture, because by the time I’d gone back and finished parking, he’d disappeared somewhere. He might be hiding in the yard, he might have slipped away someplace else. I think he’d be a good addition, seeing that he likes to eat slugs and other icky things, but obviously it’ll be up to him. Maybe he can make friends with the frog.

We have a little wait until the shelving comes in for the studio/garage, so I started cleaning up, rearranging, throwing things out, etc., so that I could patch up the drywall and paint the next couple of walls. This was working out pretty well. We didn’t have to go out and buy anything except joint compound and tape, because we had plenty of drywall scraps and screws, so I started along.

Everything was working out fine for the first two walls, and I was mostly done filling in the dents from screws that wouldn’t be covered with tape.

Not only were the pieces of drywall going up quickly, but all the parts that hadn’t been done right were pretty easy to fix. All thanks to the Makita cordless electric screwdriver. The magnetic bit made it so I could hold up the drywall with one hand and put in the screws with the other. Finishing the screws that the last guy who put up drywall hadn’t gotten all the way in was easy because all I had to do was adjust the clutch tighter and give them a little more push. The tool is heavy, but well-balanced, and we use it for almost every job we do – we have an assortment of drill bits and screwdriver bits, and even a couple of paint mixers. We use it so much that we have a spare battery that we always keep charged so it’s ready all the time. It’s a tool that I’m really glad we own.

Except when it falls on my head.

As a missile, it has its limits, but is still effective when it’s properly paired with gravity. Now, normally I will either remove items from the top of my ladder before I move it, or watch them very carefully as I move it (this is when I know I’m moving it from place to place with no obstacles in between.) This time, though, I simply forgot I had left the drill on the ladder, and one leg of the ladder got snagged on a single sheet of drywall that was lying on the floor. The drill slipped right off, and bounced off my skull on its way to the floor. Yeah, blood, pain, swelling, headache, all that head injury stuff, but I still got off pretty lightly.

Hubby picked up where I left off and finished the taping and the first layer of joint compound. I’ll put up the next layer today. Falling spackle blades are not nearly as hazardous as falling power tools, so I should emerge unscathed.